Post-soviet sphere. Dialogues and conflicts

1. Post-soviet sphere: Dialogues and Conflicts

Kuptsova I.V.
POST-SOVIET SPHERE: DIALOGUES AND
CONFLICTS

2. Russian empire

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

3. Kievan Rus

KIEVAN RUS
The population included a considerable proportion
of tribes who spoke Finnish and Baltic languages,
a small number of Turkic-speaking soldiers, and in
early period, Scandinavian Varangians.
A vast empire on the city state of Novgorod and
inhabited by numerous non-slavs ethic groups
arose between the 11 and 14 centuries in the
north-western part of the area settled by eastern
Slavs.

4.

An inner circle of Finnish-speaking tribes to the north – Karelians,
Vots, Izhora and Veps – was ruled directly from Novgorod, and an
outer circle was subject to loose tributary rule. They included the
Finnish-speaking Lapps in the North and further to the north-east,
the Zyrians and Permiaks, who were also the Finnish-speaking, the
Ugric-speaking Ostiaks and Voguls, and the Samoyeds.
In the principalities of the north-east and in the Grand Duchy of
Muscovy Russians lived side by side with Finnish-speaking ethnic
groups/ The majority of the aboriginal inhabitants (Merya, Muroma
and Ves) were assimilated in linguistic and religious terms . Only the
western Mordvinians retained the status of an independent ethnic
groups.

5. Muscovite State.

MUSCOVITE STATE.
1.
2.
Ethnic groups that engaged in agriculture and forestry,
which were integrated in administrative, economic and
social terms, which had accepted the Orthodox faith
(Karelians, Veps, Izhora, Zyrians and Permiaks). They
have been russified to a great extent.
The hunters, fishermen of the northern and northeastern periphery. They were subject to a loose
tributary rule that left their inner socio-political
structure and animist religion untouched (Samoyeds,
Lapps, Ostiaks and Voguls).

6.

3. Some where between these two types were
Mordvinians, Cheremis, Votiaks, Besermians on
the borders of the Khanate of Kazan. They
engaged primarily in agriculture and forestry, and
their areas had to some extent been integrated in
administrative and economic termes, and had
already been reached by Russian settlers.
However, they retained a non-Russian elite and
their animists value system.
4. The forth type consisted of foreigners (Tatars,
Greeks, Italians). They were active in the fields of
administration, diplomacy, or worked in technical
professions.

7. Basic patterns of an expansionist policy

BASIC PATTERNS OF AN EXPANSIONIST POLICY
An astute kind of diplomacy – the technique of
divide et impera
Support of foreign elites
Stepwise strategy that led from protectorates
whose status was sealed by a declaration of
loyalty to complete annexation at a later date
The acquisition by purchase of smaller territories
Military conquest and brutal repression
The legitimation of annexations with political
arguments

8. The gathering of the Lands of the Golden Horde

THE GATHERING OF THE LANDS OF THE GOLDEN
HORDE
The conquest of the Khanate Kazan (1552), Astrakhan (1556)
Muscovite policy towards Kazan remained within the framework of
traditional steppe politics. By using military and economic pressure
(for example trade boycott) and well-tried method of attracting the
support of the Tatar elite, Moscow sought to reinstall a khan who was
well-disposed towards it and thereby to secure the allegiance of
Kazan (1532,1546,1551).
The decisive steps leading up to annexation were first taken in 1551,
when the fortress of Sviiazhsk was constructed on the territory of the
Khanate, and when the part of the Khanate which lay on the right
bank of the Volga was incorporated into the Muscovite State.
It was only in the spring 1552, after the final attempt to install a puppet
khan had failed, that the decision was taken to conquer Kazan.
In 1556 Muscovy then proceeded to annex the Khanate of Astrakhan.

9.

Muscovite policy initially pursued the aggressive
aims. The campaign against Kazan took the form
of crusade against Islam.
The male population of the town Kazan was put to
death, mosques were razed to the ground. The
khan and other Tatars of noble birth were
deported to the interior of the Muscovite state and
baptized. If they refused, they were put to death.
Tatars and non-Tatars rose up against the foreign
rule.

10.

Policy: simultaneously of the traditions of steppe politics and of the
Novgorod and Muscovite policy towards non-Slav ethic groups.
Revolts were consistently put down with military force.
At the same time Muscovy established a system of fortress in order to
control the areas concerned and to defend them against possible attacks
from without.
The direct incorporation of the khanate into the Muscovite system of local
government districts (uezd) can to some extent be explained by security
concerns, and the Russian voevods who were in command of this
administrative units also had military functions. But up to a point the
khanate as a whole retained a special status, and was governed from a
separate central department (Prikaz Kazanskogo Dvortsa).
The Muscovite policy of incorporation was also governed by economic
considerations. The city of Kazan was taken over by Russians, and Russian
merchants were ordered to settle in it. The towns of the Khanate became
Russian enclaves in non-Russian environment. The land that had belonged
to the khan or to aristocrats was given to Russian noblemen.
The pragmatic policy approach was based on cooperation with loyal nonRussian elites . They saved traditional privileges. The Tatar and Muslim elite
was cooped into Russian nobility

11. The Conquest and Penetration of Siberia.

THE CONQUEST AND PENETRATION OF SIBERIA.
The ethnic groups that inhabited Siberia in 16-17 centuries
divided into northern (the nomadic hunters and fishermen
Tungus, Iukagir, Samoyeds, Tungus, Chukchi, Koriaks)) and
southern (Buriats, Teleuts).None of the Siberian ethnic
groups had any political organisation.
The initiative for Russian expansion to Siberia didn’t at first
come from the state, but from the Stroganov family. These
entrepreneurs had built up a semi-autonomous economic
area in the north of Russia that was largely devoted to trade
in salt and furs. In 158-1582 a troop of Cossaks in their pay
conquered the capital of the Siberian Khanate. After some
hesitation Muscovy followed and secured the Khanate with
numerous fortresses (1586 Tiumen, 1587 Tobolsk, 1604
Tomsk).

12. Policy towards Siberia.

POLICY TOWARDS SIBERIA.
The majority of the Siberian ethnic groups put up resistance to the
Russians. The repeated outbursts of resistance strengthened the resolve of
the Muscovite Government to pursue a policy of incorporation.
As a rule Muscovy confirmed the clan and tribal chieftains in their
possessions and privileges, and conferred on them simple judicial duties
and the task of local government. This mainly concerned the collection of
iasak, which was usually paid with furs.
The representatives of the native elite were not co-opted into the nobility of
the empire.
The regional administration did not obey their instractions. Corruption,
illegal enslavement, robbery and acts of violence were a daily occurrence.
Russian expansion in Siberia has occasionally been compared to American
expansion to the West. The brutal treatment of the native ethnic groups,
whose traditional order was destroyed with the armed force, alcohol and
disease have long been forgotten.

13. The Bashkirs.

THE BASHKIRS.
The Bashkirs were Turkic-speaking Muslims, lived between the Kama and
Iaik, in the southern Urals. They were semi-nomadic and nomadic
herdsmen. They were organized in clans and tribes.
After the conquest of Kazan certain groups of Bashkirs accepted Muscovite
suzerainty. The fortress of Ufa had been established in 1586. A number of
tribal chieftains entered the service of Muscovy and paid iasak to the tsar.
From the second half of the 17 century the state gradually began to levy
taxes and demand services from the Bashkirs in a systematic manner.
After the rebellions of the 18 century the area was subsequently
incorporated into the Russian empire in administrative terms. The section of
the Bashkir elite had their rights and privileges confirmed and entered into
the service of the Russian army in the form of cavalry units.
The lower classes continued to pay iasak.

14. The Nogai Tatars.

THE NOGAI TATARS.
The Turkic-speaking and Islamic Nogai tatars lived between the Volga
and the sea of Aral. They were typical nomad horsemen, and were
loosely organized into clans and tribes which sometimes united to
form one or more hordes. The Small Horde placed itself under the
protection of the Khan of Crimea. In the east one of the Hordes
joined the Kazakhs, whereas the Great Horde in the centre was
shaken by power struggles between the various clans.
After the conquest of the Volga khanates the Nogai Tatars of the
Great Horde had become direct neighbours of Muscovy and more
and more dependent on it in economic terms. Muscovy played the
warring clans off against each other, and in 1557 Prince Ismail swore
an oath to the tsar that was interpreted as a sign of subservience in
Moscow.
Nogai Tatars served as mercenaries in the Russian Army, and certain
aristocrats entered the service of the tsar.

15. The Kalmyks.

THE KALMYKS.
The Kalmyks were western Mongolian tribes lived in the steppes to the
north of the Caspian Sea. They were nomardic herdsmen, and disciplined
and feared warriors. They were organized in family clans and in hordes or
tribes. On the Volga they united to form a khanate. The Kalmyks were
lamaists.
Muscovi reached an agreement with the khan of the Kalmyks included with
an oath of loyalty in 1655. For Muscovy this meant that that Kalmyks had
become subjects of the tsar. For the Kalmyks it was simply a voluntary
military alliance in the context of the politics of the steppe.
Muscovy needed these doughty warriors as a buffer in the south. The
Khanate of the Kalmyks remained independent.
The nomadic Kalmyks were not integrated into Russian society, and retained
their traditional internal socio-political order even in the 19 century,
although their autonomy was gradually curtailed and their grazing lands
reduced in size.

16. The Crimean Tatars.

THE CRIMEAN TATARS.
In the first half of the 16 century only the khanate of the
Crimean Tatars had not come under Russian rule by the 18
century.
The Turkic-speaking and Islamic Crimean Tatars were in a
position to control the wide steppes to the north of the Black
Sea? Not only on account of their outstanding military and
organizational abilities, but also because of the support
given them by the Ottoman Empire.
In the 18 century, the Khanate of Crimea was already well
past its heyday. Its economy was in crisis, its social and
political stability had been undermined by internal conflicts,
and it became more and more dependent on the Sultan.
Russia’s attitude to the Crimean Tatars was increasingly
determined by its relations with the Ottoman Empire.

17.

From the time of Peter the Great onwards Russia attemped to acquire access to the
Black Sea.
1736-1739 – Russian troops defeated the Crimean Tatars and for a short time even
ventured on to the Crimea itself.
1768-1774 – the result of Russia – Turkish war – the Ottoman Empire was dislodged
from the northern shore of the Black Sea. The Khanate of the Crimean Tatars now
stood alone against the might of the Russian empire.
The annexation of the Crimea occurred in three stages. The Crimea was conquered
in 1771, and in the following year the Ottoman Protectorate over the Khanate of
Crimea was replaced by a Russian one, although this guaranteed the existence of
the Khanate as a free territory dependent on no one.
Four years later Russia appointed a new khan who implemented a series of reforms.
When the Tatar aristocracy rebelled against this, Catherine II ordered Russian troops
to invade the territory. The last khan was deposed in 1783.
The methods which were used to incorporate the Khanate of Crimea initially
resembled those that had been employed in the case of the Khanate of Kazan. The
administrative structure of the Khanate was taken over and placed under the control
of a Russian governor. The Russian authorities now worked together with the Tatar
elite, whose landed property and privileges they guaranteed. The Muslim Tatars elite
was co-opted into the nobility. The Tatars peasants also retained their land and their
status as free state peasants.
This pragmatic policy was a success.

18. The Cossacks.

THE COSSACKS.
The Cossacks had settled along the Don, the Volga, the Iaik and the
Terek since the 16 century. They were primarily Russian and
Ukrainian peasants who had fled to escape from increased taxation
and the extension of selfdom to the steppe frontier. They lived in
fortified camps and worked as fishermen, hunters and herdsmen.
Russia used Cossacks in its conflicts with the nomads of the steppe,
employing them as frontier guards.
The Cossacks developed a socio-political order that was totally
different from that of the Russian autocracy. The most important
decisions were taken by the circle (assembly). It also elected the
ataman or leader.
The Russian government made use of eastern Slav Cossacks and
peasants in order to open up and settle the wide expanses of the
Steppe. The Ukranian steppe frontier was reorganized and called
Novorossia.